The Astonishing Reunion Of Fanboy and Goth Girl
by Pierce Connor
Summary: Set after the first book. Kyra lives in a new city, but she's riddled with guilt over the fight with Donnie. By a quirk of fate, they are reunited and catch up with each other. Disclaimer: I do not own this fandom: It is the property of Barry Lyga.
1. Chapter 1

* * *

The Astonishing Reunion of Fanboy and Gothgirl

By Pierce Connor

Chapter One

Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it! It was happening again. No matter how hard Kyra tried to avoid it, she just couldn't push him out of her mind. It wouldn't be accurate to call it a crush exactly, but there was some kind of emotion there. The problem was she couldn't classify it and that was frustrating the hell out of her. She tried to stay focused on her walking, but it was easier said than done. She had to settle on a destination. She finally selected a coffee shop. It looked safe enough and no one would bother her. She forced herself to move, focusing on the rhythmic sound of her boots against the concrete. She stepped through the coffee shop doors, trying to look as though nothing was bothering her. It wasn't difficult; she had always been great at faking it. She stepped into line and waited, trying not to seem too impatient. Her personal problems were no excuse for rudeness. Besides, she had the annoying images of him flashing through her head to occupy her time. At least they were good for something. Besides, there was no chance that the real thing would be coming here no matter how much she wanted to see him. She would just have to deal with all this nonsense on her own. She looked up to see a coffee shop clerk eyeing her impatiently. She noticed there was empty space in front of her. How long had it been her turn to order?

"Sorry," she muttered out loud, "I'll have a caramel latte and one of the fudge brownies." The clerk nodded and rung up her total. She paid, took her brownie and moved to one of the window tables to wait for her drink. It was nice for once, not having to talk about the garbage floating around in her mind. Not that she felt the talking hadn't helped. She knew it had, but that didn't mean it hadn't been painful. When her coffee arrived, she greedily it down, hoping in vain that the force of the liquid would wash this line of thought out of her head. She finished the coffee and inhaled the brownie just as fast. She knew eating like that wasn't good for her, but suddenly that didn't matter. She wondered what she would say if she could talk to the image of him that was floating around in her head. Maybe she would apologize for acting the way she did. Even if he had feelings for another girl, that didn't mean he had deserved her anger. It wasn't like they had been dating or anything. She stepped out of the coffee shop, suddenly needing fresh air. She spotted a comic book shop in the distance. A small place, but she felt herself drawn there anyway. _No, _she told herself in her head, even knowing she couldn't stop herself, _there's no need to torture yourself like this. _Her feet kept moving anyway, against her will. She knew fully well that the reason she was going had nothing to do with the merchandise in that store. She was hoping it would make the image stronger, or somehow cause the real thing to appear there, even though she knew that was a fantasy. It was true that he liked comics, she was almost sure he wouldn't be at a shop this far away from his home. It _was _practically across the state after all. That meant she would just have to keep living with the guilt, if she even could. She browsed the modest collection of comics. The usual fanfare. Superman, Batman, the old Sandman comics, that sort of thing. Nothing special.

Kyra figured that she probably looked pretty strange to the comic book geek behind the counter, not to mention the one over there by the row of Alan Moore comics. She peered at him. Fanboy had liked Alan Moore too. Looking closely, she thought the comic geek reminded her of him. No, that couldn't be…it was probably just an optical illusion. She shouldn't approach him. Even though she had done some crazy stuff today, she wouldn't bring her delusion to that level. She turned her gaze away and looked at the Sandman comics. She had all of these though. She saw that the Fanboy-ish comic book geek was leaving. She walked over to the other section and browsed the comics. Her eyes scanned past the section that he had been looking at. It was Promethea. The comic brought back memories; the first time she had contacted Fanboy on the Internet, she had used the name Promethea. She grabbed issue #1, even though she already had a copy. It would give her something to think about. She walked up to the counter and paid for her comic. Then she stepped out of the door and sat against the wall. She had tried to maintain her composure and resist the sadness, but the tears were falling down her face. It was ruining her makeup, but she didn't care. Heaven help her, she wanted to see Fanboy just once.

"Excuse me," a voice said, from somewhere above her, "Are you all right?" She chanced a look up. It was the comic book geek from the store. He had returned. She could barely see through the tears, but…no, it couldn't be possible. She struggled to dry the tears enough to make out the features. Hair color, the general shape of his eyes. She was almost sure that she wasn't seeing what she thought she was seeing, but she had to take the chance. "Fanboy?" she asked softly, hearing her voice crack in a way that made her feel even more uncomfortable. The comic book geek who might be Fanboy knelt next to her, seemingly inspecting her face. "Kyra?" he asked her, sounding surprised. She felt a catch in her throat as she gasped with surprise. It really was him. Was this some kind of kismet or something? Fanboy stood again and held out his hand. Kyra was starting to doubt her string of luck, but she had no choice but to go along with it. She took Fanboy's hand and rose to her feet. "It's um…good to see you," she said through the tears, which were slowly subsiding. Fanboy flashed a smile. "You ruined your make up," he told her with a tone of amusement in his voice, "Let me clean you up." He took some half-wadded napkins out of his pocket and gently applied them to her face. "Sorry these are all I have," he said, "I borrowed some extras from a restaurant. Never know when you'll need napkins." Kyra let out a small laugh. Fanboy hadn't lost his sense of humor. "What are you doing here?" she asked, "I thought you lived on the other side of the state." Fanboy looked around him. "I think people are starting to stare," he said, "Let's go somewhere else. I'll tell you everything." Kyra nodded, not wanting to speak. It was turning out to be a good day. Words would ruin it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kyra didn't know this part of town well, even though she lived across the bridge. "Where are you leading me, Fanboy?" she asked him, feeling a touch of nostalgia. He smiled mysteriously and looked back at her. "Just wait and see," he told her, "I don't want to spoil the surprise. But I guarantee you're going to like it." She was feeling confused now, but she decided to go along with it. "So," she said, trying her best to make small talk, "How have you been?" He gave her another one of his smiles. She was getting used to that. That was something she hadn't seen a lot. A true smile, not just someone putting on a brave face. "Well, my stepdad got himself a new job," he told her, "Turns out he has a talent for glass blowing that none of us knew about. And my little sis is doing well." Kyra gave him a smile back. It was probably the first smile she had given anyone that wasn't forced. Why was that? First she couldn't stop thinking of him, then she had been driven to tears over it and now she couldn't stop smiling. Was she falling in love with Fanboy? No, that couldn't be it. It had to be that she was just glad she got a second chance. Fanboy stopped in front of a sprawling house.

"This is your place?" she asked him, "This is pretty nice. Looks like the stepdad has done pretty well for himself." Fanboy nodded and laughed. "Yeah," he said, grinning, "He gets a lot of commissions from modern art museums and such." Kyra silently followed him up the stairs and in through the front door. She wasn't sure what this big surprise was, but at least the house was nice. She tried to watch closely as she followed Fanboy up another flight of stairs. At the top landing, he turned to her and said "Wait here." She nodded and watched him disappear into a room down the hall. She tapped her foot against the floor waiting. After what seemed like an eternity, Fanboy stepped out of the room, holding what looked like a comic book in his hands. "Another one of those graphic novels you're so fond of?" she said wryly, giving him a joking smile, "That's what you kept me in suspense for?" He smiled back, like someone who knew something she didn't. He pushed the comic toward her. "Look closely," he said, "It's not just any graphic novel." Kyra rolled her eyes, but took the comic anyway and looked down at the cover. It took a few moments to register, but soon enough, she felt a gasp escape her lips.

"Schemata, Volume 1?" she said, feeling an excited tone creep into her voice, "You got published?" Fanboy shot her a confident grin, seeing how excited she had gotten. "I told you that you would like it," he said, "The release date is set for a couple of weeks from now, which makes that an advance issue. It's yours to keep if you want it." She gave him an 'are you kidding?' look. "Of course I want it," she said, "You know I always thought Schemata was awesome." She laughed slightly. That was true. She had thought it was so awesome, she had publicly bitched out a world renowned comic book author over it. "Seriously though," she said, "Congratulations Fanboy." Fanboy looked at her, apparently matching her seriousness with his own. "Call me Donnie," he told her, "I think we've outgrown nicknames, don't you Kyra?" She let that one roll over in her head for a minute. She supposed he had a point. "All right, Donnie," she said, trying the name out. It was going to take some getting used to. She had always just called him 'Fanboy.' She wasn't sure if she had even known his real name before. She had been so self-absorbed back then she probably hadn't even bothered to ask. Which reminded her, now that she had her reunion with him, she had to apologize.

"Listen," she said, trying to keep her tone even, "I want to tell you that I'm sorry. You know, for the way I acted back when we first met. I really didn't have any real reason to be angry with you. I mean, who was I to judge your decisions?" To her amazement, Donnie didn't react like she expected. She had thought maybe he would show anger, but to her surprise, he came over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, "I only hold grudges against the likes of Mitchell Frampton." He grinned at her. "That's good to hear," she said, "I was worried there for a minute." It was starting to hit her that this was really happening. "So, I realize how strange this is going to sound," Kyra said, "But would you mind coming somewhere with me? Since you've shown me something, I also want to show you something." She wanted him to know that she was doing well for herself, so he wouldn't worry about her. "Sure," he told her, "I'd be happy to go with you." She let out a small smile. She had been doing that a lot today. "We're going to need some transportation though," she said. Donnie gave her a look that said 'I'll take care of it.' He led her outside where a red Nissan Altima was parked. "It's the stepdad's," he said, "But since I got my license recently, he lets me use it whenever I need it. He prefers to take the bus." Donnie produced a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the doors. Kyra got in the passenger's side and waited for Donnie. Soon enough, Donnie started the car and drove away from the house, with Kyra giving the directions.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A little note on the first couple of chapters. They are actually much larger than the initially appear. I had to mess with the paragraphing because she spacing got messed up in the upload. Sorry about that.**

Kyra instructed Donnie to stop in front of a green apartment building. It had two floors. On the bottom was a restaurant; on the top was an apartment building. "The owner of the restaurant rents the apartment, but he lets me stay there," she explained, "In exchange, I work there as a waitress four days out of the week. Sometimes my band also comes in and performs, like tonight." Donnie looked at her, seeming surprised. "You're a musician?" he asked. She grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Not a really good one," she said, "But I've written a few songs. You should come to my show tonight. I'm unveiling a new song." Donnie gave her one of the smiles that she was quickly becoming accustomed to. "I can't wait to hear it," he said, "Something tells me you'd be a good musician."

Kyra led Donnie up the stairs, producing a key from her pocket. She inserted the key into the lock and pushed the door open, allowing Donnie to walk in first. "So," she said, a bit nervously, "This is my place. Make yourself at home." She made a mental note to carefully preserve the issue of Schemata he had given her. Of course, she wasn't a collector, so she definitely intended to read it. He had always worked so hard on it, so she figured she would be wasting the gift not to. Kyra moved into the kitchen and took a look at Donnie. "Can I offer you anything to drink?" she asked him, politely. He looked up at her from the couch. "Just water is fine," he said, "So, it seems like you're doing all right." She nodded at him, acknowledging the statement. "I feel like I should thank you for this, at least partly," she said, "I mean, you know, before I met you I was pretty messed up. I put on a brave face a lot, but honestly, most of the time I was a coward." Donnie gave her an incredulous look. "A girl who went up to Brian Michael Bendis, yelled at him, _and _flashed him in the middle of a comic book convention thinks she's a coward?" he asked, "Now I've heard it all." Kyra laughed like she hadn't laughed in a long time, and then sobered up immediately. "It's true though," she said, "Even when I was sending you that first IM, I was terrified." She laughed wryly. "Of what?" Donnie asked, "What did you think was going to happen?" She looked at him, taking on a serious face. "I guess I don't know," she said, "Maybe that you would think I was a freak. Everyone else at that school did." Donnie looked at her and she suddenly felt confused. Why was she telling all of this to him?

"Well, you know me," he told her, "I'm hardly in any position to judge someone by the way they look." He came over and sat next to her. "You really shouldn't call yourself names like that," he told her, "Sounds to me like you had plenty of people doing that." Kyra was on the edge of bursting into laughter. "Yeah," she said, "I guess that's true. Well, no point in dwelling on the past."

"I guess not," Donnie said, "So this song you're unveiling tonight. Any chance I can get a sneak preview?" He grinned at her, having a good idea of what the answer was going to be, but feeling as though he had to ask anyway, if only to show his interest. "No way," she told him, as he had predicted, "No previews. You'll just have to come to the concert, like everyone else." She winked at him, the first time she had ever done so. It had been kind of liberating. It had been a while since she had shown any overt happiness, but now, apparently, it was going to burst out of her all at once. Kyra suddenly realized she was still wearing the clothes she had worn to the coffee shop. Suddenly, this outfit seemed really inappropriate. "Please excuse me," she said to Donnie, and then walked quickly into her bedroom. She locked it behind her. She was sure that Donnie wouldn't follow, but she still didn't want to take chances.

She started by peeling off the boots she had been wearing. She had to make a point in the future to bring a more comfortable pair of shoes with her when she went out. She liked wearing the boots, but apparently, wearing them too long was painful. She searched through her closet and found a broken in pair of black Converses. These would do. She kept going through her closet and eventually found a T-shirt and jeans that would be reasonably comfortable. She quickly changed and walked back out to see Donnie. "Sorry about that," she said, "My outfit was suddenly feeling really uncomfortable." Donnie looked at her, as though appraising her quickly changed look. "No problem," he said, "I kind of like this look. You should dress like that more often." Kyra looked back at him, carefully considering his suggestion. This was really more comfortable than the other way of dressing. She was sure she looked more "normal" than she had when she wore the other look. She nodded almost imperceptibly and sat down next to Donnie. She was getting used to being close to him.

"So," she said, making some effort at conversation, "You're about to release an awesome graphic novel, your dad's a renowned glass blower; seems to me like everyone in your family is successful." She gave a light laugh, but there was…something in her tone even she didn't understand. Maybe part of her wondered why her family couldn't be more like his. Her sister was just a sad case in general and her parents were hardly worth considering. She forced herself away from that line of thought and tried to tune into what Donnie was saying. "Yeah, I guess they are," he was saying, "It's not really something I pay much attention to. Success is just a word." Kyra smiled at Donnie's modesty, although she was sure he wasn't entirely sincere in that. He had to be aware to a degree that his family was pretty successful. Still, she did appreciate the effort he was making. She was getting scared now. She was starting to run out of things to say, but she had to make an honest attempt.

"I appeared in a music video recently," she said, by way of conversation, "Not for anyone important though. Just some local act who decided to shoot a video." Donnie immediately took an interest, looking up at her. "Really?" he asked, "I'd like to see it." She looked at him. Was he serious? She considered. She did have a tape, but she didn't think it was such a big deal. Still, if he wanted to see it, she didn't mind showing it. "Okay," she said, grinning, "But I should warn you, these guys really suck." She walked over to the television set and took the DVD, then slowly inserted it into the DVD player. She proceeded to press the play button, and then returned to her seat. The screen flickered to life immediately, having already been on the input setting. The video started without preamble and the horrible music filled the room. Donnie let out a small laugh. "You're right," he said, "They really do suck. And what's with the outfit they made you wear? It looks so…fake." Kyra grimaced. She understood what she meant. How could anyone ever imagine her wearing that grotesque mix of white and green? She wasn't sure that she could imagine _anyone _wearing that, but especially not her. "I know," she responded, "I would have preferred a more realistic color, but when I mentioned it, they wouldn't hear a word of it." Kyra slowly turned off the DVD player and sat in silence. When was the last time she had enjoyed a real conversation like this? It had been a while. Probably since the last time her and Donnie had been able to speak in civil terms with each other.

Donnie's voice momentarily snapped her back to reality. "…bunch of idiots," Donnie was saying. Kyra forced herself to look up at him. "Sorry," she said, "I wasn't listening." Donnie smiled at her again. Apparently that was his chosen nonverbal way of saying that he forgave her. "I was just talking about these guys who tried to break into the house next door. They were planning to steal all the valuables, but when they got there, it turned out that nobody lived there and there were no valuables. How dumb can you get really, trying to break into the place without seeing if anyone even lives there?"

She laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty dumb," she said, "That's something I would have expected from the jocks back at our old school. All muscle, no intelligence." Donnie nodded silently. Kyra hoped she hadn't gone overboard. Donnie had history with most of those jocks, and not the good kind of history either. "Sorry," she said, testing the waters, "I wasn't thinking before I spoke there. I have to work on that." Donnie gave her a look. "Don't worry about it," he said, "It's all in the past anyway." He looked down at his watch. "Hey," he said, "Don't you need to get ready for your concert. It's in three hours right?" Kyra looked at her own watch and gasped. She had lost track of the time. "Yeah," she said, "I have to get a proper costume ready and make sure the band knows the set and everything. Thanks for the reminder." Donnie nodded and flashed her a "no problem" look. "I'd better leave you to that then," he said, "I'm sure you have a lot to do. I'll see you at the show, all right?" Kyra nodded. Part of her wanted to ask him to stay, but he was right. It would be a lot easier to focus on this if she wasn't distracted by him. "Right," she said, "I'll see you there." She showed Donnie to the door and watched as he headed down the stairs to his car. She was barely even aware of the smile that was forming on her face. Seeing him again like this had made her feel great. She was starting to think that maybe she really could be in love with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, this is just so everyone knows, the song Kyra sings here is an original work. I didn't borrow it from anyone. **

Chapter Four

Kyra was in an uncharacteristically good mood. Maybe it was because the set was going well. Or maybe it was just because Donnie had come to her show. The set was about to end, so she figured now was the time to finish the set with the song she had written for him. She signaled her band mates. She had made them practice the song for a while, but she'd never thought she was going to be able to actually sing it with Donnie listening. "OK, so I'm going to finish with a new song," she said, "I hope everyone enjoys it." She took a deep breath and started strumming her guitar softly. She waited for the drum beat to start. It was solid and slow. She took another breath and began to sing. "A chance encounter, a day like any other," she sang, "I noticed you, did you notice me? Felt so captivated by your mystery, If I talked to you would you talk to me?" It was sounding really good. She tried to keep her excitement contained as she moved into the chorus. "You're in my heart, you're in my head all the time. You might be out of sight, but I can't keep you out of my mind." _All right, girl. The crowd seems to be loving it, _she told herself, _Just keep it going. No pressure. _She was headed for the second verse now. "My days were dark until the day I met you, couldn't figure out how to get to know you, walked down the halls, feeling so nervous, wished it could be just the two of us." She went straight into the chorus again, unconsciously scanning for Donnie's face. There he was in at the front table. He looked like he was enjoying the song. She moved into the final part of the song. "I just wish I could get one moment alone with you. We don't need an eternity, just one small word would be a dream come true, so here I am calling out to you." _All right, _she thought, _He's loving it. _She played the guitar solo she had written in, then went into the chorus a couple of times to finish off the song. She smiled. The restaurant patrons began applauding as soon as the song finished. But there was only one person whose opinion she really cared about. She took her guitar, placed it in her case, slung the case over her shoulder and moved off the stage.

She went immediately to Donnie's table and he stood up to meet her. "That was awesome," he said, "That last song was really great." She shot him a smile that she hadn't even known she was capable of. "Thanks," she said, "I kind of...well...wrote it for you." He smiled back at her, but doesn't look surprised. "I kind of figured," he told her, "But thank you anyway. That's really flattering." She noticed that people are starting to stare at them. _We must look really weird,_ she thought. She suddenly wanted to be out of there now. "Come on, let's go," he said to Bless the boy for his seeming ability to read her thoughts. "Yeah," she said, taking his hand and letting him lead her out. "So," he said to her, "I'm appearing at a Schemata release party three days from now, and I was wondering if you wanted to come." She looked at him, almost like he was crazy. "Do you even have to ask?" she said, "Of course I want to come." He grinned at her. She was starting to suspect that he knew that would be her answer. "So, I really don't feel like going back to my place now," she said, "Would you mind walking with me for a while?" He nods and we she started to lead the way. She wasn't really planning on going anywhere, she just wanted to lose herself for a while. Donnie suddenly gave her a concerned look. "Is everything all right?" he asked, "You seem a little stressed." She looked at him. She supposed she did feel kind of stressed. "It's just, well, I have a lot of different things going on in my head," she told him, "I guess you could say that I have a pretty crowded house in here right now." Donnie nodded. "I understand," he said, "I feel like that all the time. You just need to take it slow, that's all. Take them one at a time and they'll sort themselves out." She suddenly felt a much deeper admiration for him, if that was possible. He really did understand. _Get a grip Kyra, _she thought, _It's not like you to wear your emotions on your sleeve like this. _Except when she was around Donnie. Then it seemed to be the only thing she could do. What in the world was wrong with her? She always felt so weak, so needy, when she was around him. But, now that she thought about that, maybe that was all right. She took a quick look at her watch. Damn it was late. She hadn't checked the time since they left. She didn't realize that time could pass so quickly. She was reminded of a dialogue from Romeo and Juliet. _What makes the hours long? _she recalled, _Not having that which makes them short._ It was a depressing line, but a true one. This plagued her with more questions. Should she tell Donnie that he was the one who made her hours short? Would that sound lame? Would he feel the same way? _Of course, _she reasoned, _He went out of his way to find you that day and he cared. He did that for a reason. _Still, she had to go back now. "Um, I should go back," she said, "I'll see you at the release party, OK?" Donnie nodded and gave her a quick hug. It gave her a feeling of security that he hadn't felt in a while. "Yeah," he said, "I'll see you there." The two of them walked back to Kyra's place, where Donnie got in his car and drove away.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The day was finally here. Kyra could barely contain her excitement. The Schemata release party. She had done something rare for her: Spent hours trying to make herself presentable, at least by her definition. She'd applied a more subtle makeup, and worn a halfway ordinary outfit. Her goth outfit had a tendency to make her the center of attention, which she didn't want today. This was Donnie's show, not hers. She took a good look at her T-shirt and jeans. They looked okay enough. She hadn't worn them in a while, but they looked pretty clean. She grabbed a pair of Converses, one of the only pairs of ordinary shoes she owned, and slipped them on. She had decided to forgo wearing socks. That probably was the only part that wasn't different. She looked down at her watch and saw that she had an hour. She had better move. It was a long bus ride and Donnie wasn't able to pick her up because he had preparing of his own to do. She headed out the door and ran to the bus stop. She managed to get there just before the bus did. She reached into her pocket and showed the driver her bus pass. She settled into a seat and waited. She diverted herself by looking out the window and staring at the buildings as she passed by. Soon enough, she was at her destination, a bus stop near the local convention center. She stepped out of the bus and walked the rest of the way to the convention center. She checked her watch and saw that she still had fifteen minutes before the event started. She made her way to the reception desk and spoke to the receptionist. "Excuse me," she said, "Do you know where the Schemata release party is?" The receptionist looked at her. "It's on the third floor, Room 304," she said, "Take that elevator, then when you get out it's the second door on the left." Kyra nodded and muttered a quick "thanks" to the receptionist. She stepped into the elevator. These things always made her nervous, but for Donnie, she would do it. She punched the button for the third floor and waited patiently. When the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened, she was incredibly relieved. She turned to the left and made her way down to the second door on the left side. Her watch told her that she was just in time for the start of the event. She took a deep, calming breath and quietly opened the door. She had never seen a sight quite like this. A lot of comic book geeks, but also a lot of relatively ordinary looking people. She saw some people who were obviously buying this on behalf of their sons and daughters, but mostly it was a pretty young crowd. She scanned for Donnie among the others.

Turned out, he wasn't hard to find. He was wearing a pretty sharp looking suit. Midnight black. Guess he wanted to look good for his release party. Kyra walked up to him with a smile on her face. "Wearing the uniform of success," she commented, "It's a good look for you." Donnie laughed and greeted her with a hug. She was sure this would attract attention, but Donnie didn't seem bothered, so she wouldn't be either. "I didn't really want to wear this, but I figured I should look decent," he told her, "I brought a change of clothes for afterward. I don't plan on wearing this all day." Kyra smiled at him. "So, I guess you have a speech to make or something, huh?" she asked him. He nodded, but he looked at her for a moment. What was that look? "I want you to stay with me when I make it though," he told her, "After all, this is your party too." Kyra's mind protested against that. Her party? No way. Sure she had helped out a little, but this was really Donnie's project. He had worked on it forever. All she had done was provide some insight. Still, he had requested that she be with him, and she wouldn't say no. She nodded. "Okay," she said, "Thank you." He shook is head like it was nothing. It was incredibly kind of him to make her a part of this. It would be disrespectful to turn this offer down. He walked towards the back of the room, where a makeshift stage was set up.

Kyra followed him and stepped up onto the stage with him. A microphone was set up. Kyra was curious about something, so she decided to come right out and ask. "Who are all these people?" she said, "I mean, how did you put the word out about this?" He laughed, as if he was surprised to hear her ask that. "The company whose publishing me," he said, "They asked me if I wanted to do this, and I told them I would only do it if they let me devise a test to determine who would be invited. So I used their website to post a trivia quiz about famous comic book characters. I put in questions about even the most minute details about famous characters. Only those who were able to answer all of the questions correctly were given invitations." Well, now that was explained. She doubted that the obvious suit-and-tie types who looked like they were on the wrong side of 40 had done that well. Probably their children had been unable to show, so they had given their invitations to their parents. She couldn't really imagine anyone who had been given such an opportunity and passing it up. But that did raise one more question. "What about me?" she asked, "I never had to show an invitation and since I didn't have one, I should have been asked to leave." Donnie laughed like he had expected that question. "I had a picture of you from your MySpace page. I printed it out, made copies and passed it around to the event staff, telling them to expect you." She nodded. That made sense. Donnie took a look out at the crowd of guests and slowly approached the microphone. Kyra watched the crowd suddenly turn to attention. "Thank you for coming," Donnie said, "As you know, this is the release party for Schemata, my new graphic novel. All of you who are here earned your invitations, and as such, all of you will receive a free copy of the first issue. But first, there's someone I want you to meet. She was a big help with this project. When I was first working on it, she gave me advice and helped me a lot with the artwork and even inspired some of the storyline. In a way, this is her party as much as it is mine. Therefore, I'd like to introduce you all to Kyra Sellers." She saw a hint of recognition in some people's eyes and wondered about that. He beckoned her to approach him. Timidly, she did so. She had expected him to do something like this, but it still made her happy. He stepped away from the microphone, as if expecting her to say something. She steeled herself and spoke as loudly as she could manage. "Thanks, Donnie," she said, "This is a little unexpected, so I haven't prepared any long speeches or anything. I guess I should just keep this brief and say how proud of Donnie I am. I mean, I'm really just someone he met while he was working on it. This is really his genius at work. That's all." Without preamble, Kyra stepped away from the microphone. Donnie took the microphone again and directed people about where they could find their copies of Schemata. The event went on and ultimately ended. Kyra had had a great time and had a big smile on her face as she left with Donnie. She realized now that she still hadn't read the copy he had given her. "Listen," she said to him, "Thanks for all of this. I've had a really great time and it's all thanks to you." He shook his head, the "it's nothing" kind of shake. "No need to thank me," he said, "Every word I said back there was the truth and it still is. Schemata is your creation, just as much as it is mine. If you don't believe me, check out the copy I gave you when you get home. With that, they parted ways, Kyra heading for her home and Donnie for his. When Kyra arrived, she made a beeline for the Schemata comic he had given her. Right there on the inside front cover, it said a single, simple, but powerful sentence: _Created by Don Marchetti and Kyra Sellers._ He had meant it. He really did believe that Schemata was her creation as well as his. Kyra fell to her knees on the floor and began to cry. These were probably the first tears of joy, as opposed to tears of sadness, that she had shed in a while.

**A/N: And that's the end of the story. I know it's pretty short, but it's all I needed. Hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.
